PULLMAN, Wash. – Arizona State picked up its fourth win in as many tries when the Sun Devils swept No. 35 Washington State 4-0 in Pullman Friday afternoon.
"I'm really proud of the girls for coming away with a tough road win," associate head coach Matt Langley said. "Washington State is a scrappy team that competes really well and makes you earn everything. I thought we kept our composure really well on a lot of courts and I thought this was the difference in us getting the win today."
Sophomore Tereza Kolarova picked up her team-leading fourth match-clinching win to put the Devils back over .500 and improve the squad to 3-4 in the Pac-12.
ASU's sweep started with the Devils earning a tricky doubles point inside the Hollingberry Tennis Center.
"The doubles point was huge again for us," Langley said. "I thought Sam and Sammi did a great job at playing aggressively when it counted. They were especially good in the tiebreaker that got us the doubles point."
The Cougars jumped out to a quick advantage with a win on court two, but No. 2 John-Baptiste/Hattingh put the Devils back in contention for the doubles point when they took court one 6-4. The win was the pair's 10th doubles win in 2019.
No. 65 Hampton/Alicea found themselves in a hole early, but battled back to knot the match at 5-5 and would eventually force a winner-take-all tiebreak. The ASU duo held on to complete the comeback and clinch the doubles point with a 7-6(5) win, their team-leading sixth conference doubles victory.
Because the match was being played indoors in Pullman, only four courts were in use at a time, meaning No. 109 Ilze Hattingh, No. 87 Lauryn John-Baptiste, Tereza Kolarova and Sammi Hampton took to the courts with a chance to lock up a fourth-straight win.
"I didn't see much of Sammi's match in singles, but from what I did see she played with confidence, which was fantastic to see," Langley said "She has been putting in extra work recently and this is really starting to pay off."
Hampton was locked in a back-and-forth first set that she eventually won in a tiebreak, but the second set was all Hampton. The junior completed the sweep with a 6-1 second-set win and put ASU up 2-0.
John-Baptiste took the first set of her match in dominant fashion, but found herself down 4-1 in a hurry in the second. She went on to win six of the next seven games played to win the set and the match 7-5, giving ASU a 3-0 advantage with four matches left to be completed.
In the race to clinch the match, Kolarova and Hattingh were both into their third sets by the time John-Baptiste had gotten off the court on two.
It would be Kolarova though who completed the sweep over the Cougars, downing her court three opponent 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 and sending the Devils into Sunday's matchup with No. 13 Washington on their longest win-streak since March of 2018.
"Terka did a great job of competing hard and staying composed," Langley said. "Overall, I'm really happy for the girls and I'm looking forward to seeing us continue to build upon this momentum going into our match against Washington on Sunday".
"I'm really proud of the girls for coming away with a tough road win," associate head coach Matt Langley said. "Washington State is a scrappy team that competes really well and makes you earn everything. I thought we kept our composure really well on a lot of courts and I thought this was the difference in us getting the win today."
Sophomore Tereza Kolarova picked up her team-leading fourth match-clinching win to put the Devils back over .500 and improve the squad to 3-4 in the Pac-12.
ASU's sweep started with the Devils earning a tricky doubles point inside the Hollingberry Tennis Center.
"The doubles point was huge again for us," Langley said. "I thought Sam and Sammi did a great job at playing aggressively when it counted. They were especially good in the tiebreaker that got us the doubles point."
The Cougars jumped out to a quick advantage with a win on court two, but No. 2 John-Baptiste/Hattingh put the Devils back in contention for the doubles point when they took court one 6-4. The win was the pair's 10th doubles win in 2019.
No. 65 Hampton/Alicea found themselves in a hole early, but battled back to knot the match at 5-5 and would eventually force a winner-take-all tiebreak. The ASU duo held on to complete the comeback and clinch the doubles point with a 7-6(5) win, their team-leading sixth conference doubles victory.
Because the match was being played indoors in Pullman, only four courts were in use at a time, meaning No. 109 Ilze Hattingh, No. 87 Lauryn John-Baptiste, Tereza Kolarova and Sammi Hampton took to the courts with a chance to lock up a fourth-straight win.
"I didn't see much of Sammi's match in singles, but from what I did see she played with confidence, which was fantastic to see," Langley said "She has been putting in extra work recently and this is really starting to pay off."
Hampton was locked in a back-and-forth first set that she eventually won in a tiebreak, but the second set was all Hampton. The junior completed the sweep with a 6-1 second-set win and put ASU up 2-0.
John-Baptiste took the first set of her match in dominant fashion, but found herself down 4-1 in a hurry in the second. She went on to win six of the next seven games played to win the set and the match 7-5, giving ASU a 3-0 advantage with four matches left to be completed.
In the race to clinch the match, Kolarova and Hattingh were both into their third sets by the time John-Baptiste had gotten off the court on two.
It would be Kolarova though who completed the sweep over the Cougars, downing her court three opponent 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 and sending the Devils into Sunday's matchup with No. 13 Washington on their longest win-streak since March of 2018.
"Terka did a great job of competing hard and staying composed," Langley said. "Overall, I'm really happy for the girls and I'm looking forward to seeing us continue to build upon this momentum going into our match against Washington on Sunday".